Dragon Week Day Five: Enter the Dragon review
Hello again empire! Today we talk about my second favorite movie of all time and the single greatest kung-fu movie of all time, Enter the Dragon. This was the last movie that Bruce ever finished, and the only American made kung-fu film he ever made. Also one of two films in which he was not dubbed over by another actor. This movie is what all kung-fu movies strive to be, but none truly compare to this masterpiece. The film was completed about a week before Bruce died, and was released three weeks afterwards. His image of a martial arts film was finally a reality, and he was immortalized for all eternity by it. Referenced by pop culture icons like Family Guy and Spongebob Squarepants, this is an undeniable classic that needs to be seen ASAP. Introducing a few legends such as Jackie Chan, Samo Hung, Jim Kelly, and Bolo Yeung, as well as featuring people who were already legendary such as Bob Wall and John Saxon. So now that I've warmed you up a little, lets get into the review. The Plot Bruce plays a Shoulin monk named Lee (real original) who is asked to take part in a tournament on a private island by a government agency. It is run by a man named Han, an evil one-handed man that was once a monk at Lee's monastery. He is suspected of many crimes such as drug production and smuggling, murder, and being involved in the buying and selling of prostitutes. They ask Lee to find evidence of Han's guilt and call in the cavalry so they can bust up his operation. He agrees because his sister was killed by Han's bodyguard Ohara (Bob Wall) Along the way, he befriends two men, Roper (John Saxon) and Williams (Jim Kelly). The two were army buddies in Vietnam. Roper is trying to escape his gambling debts, and Williams is trying to escape racial discrimination. Roper falls in love with Han's assistant, Williams orders four hookers, and Lee finds the his fellow agent Mei Ling. While Lee is exploring at night, he is spotted but not identified, leading to Williams being blamed because he was outside practicing his moves at the time. That day, at the tournament, Lee goes against Ohara and kills him without taking a single hit. Han then calls Williams to his office and kills him after he threatens to leave. He then calls Roper into his office. Han shows Roper the whole operation, and reveals to him at the end of the tour that the tournament is simply a way for Han to recruit new henchmen and that he wants to recruit Roper. He then shows Roper that Williams is dead. That night, Lee tries again to get into Han's headquarters. This time he succeeds and calls for his agency buddies. But then the alarm goes off and Lee has to fight his way out, using weapons from defeated enemies. Starting with no weapons, he gets a staff, then a pair of wooden batons, then finally a set of nunchucks.(Today you'll get three videos, this scene, the Ohara fight, and the final battle. They're all so great I just can't leave any out!) He is then captured. The next morning, Han tries to get Roper to fight Lee, but he refuses. Han respects his loyalty to his friend, so he makes him fight his other body guard Bolo (Bolo Yeung, aka Yang Tze). Lee was going to step in, but Roper refuses the assist and fights him alone. Roper ends the fight with a kick to the groin so powerful it kills Bolo. Han then sends all of his goons at Lee and Roper at once. They are about to be overwhelmed, but Mei Ling frees all of Hans prisoners and a massive brawl erupts. (fun fact: Bruce directed and choreographed this scene. He plays one of the freed prisoners in a few shots, and is seen frantically running around on the edge of the set directing the action in one shot.) Han puts on a claw hand and goes to fight Lee. He gets it stuck in a table after Lee dodges a swipe and he has to abandon it. He uses the chaos of the brawl to retreat to his trophy room. He then puts on the famous triple-bladed hand. They fight for a time in the trophy room, Lee gets the iconic slashes across his body and face, which became his most famous image. Also he does the famous "Vampire Taunt" where he wipes a little blood from a wound on his abdomen and licks it off his finger. Then the fight goes into the also iconic hall of mirrors, where he finally finishes off Han by breaking all of the mirrors and impaling Han on his own spear. Lee then goes outside and sees that the battle is over. Roper is all beaten up and bruised. His lover was apparently killed in all of the chaos. Then the choppers arrive to pick Lee up. The camera zooms in on Han's claw hand still stuck in the table as the credits roll. The End. What I Thought This is just a great movie. There isn't as much action as Lee's other movies, but the characters are interesting, and Lee's fighting philosophy plays a huge part in the movie. For all intents and purposes, this was Bruce's vision of a perfect movie, and I wish he had made more like it before he passed away. Long live The Dragon. Afterword A true must-see movie. 10/10. Up next we have a biography film about his life. Just gonna say this now; they need to get some facts fucking straight and try again. But thats later. Also there is a rumor that Enter the Dragon will be seeing a remake sometime soon. I just want to ask what kind of inbred retarded dickwad would think that this would be a good idea. The movie got a perfect score here and a near perfect score on numerous movie sites. The movie was already good and it was realistic. Why would you remake it? That is the most disrespectful thing anyone has done in Bruce's name since the Warner version of Game of Death. Uhg, for now I'm out. Be water my friends. Category:Dragon Week Category:Review